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Electronico6 posted:Solaris has an atrocious opening that kills any mood or enjoyment of the film to me, and when you learn that he did it on purpose it just makes the whole picture mean spirited and crooked. Interesting, I think the first third or so of Solaris might be my favorite part.
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Jan 25, 2018 00:24
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All this Tarkovsky talk reminds me I’ve been meaning to look into him, but his films have a reputation for being long and slow, and therefore not the most accessible. Where would be a good place to start? (This may have been answered, but I’ve been skimming the last few posts to avoid spoilers).
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Jan 25, 2018 01:51
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Jurgan posted:All this Tarkovsky talk reminds me I’ve been meaning to look into him, but his films have a reputation for being long and slow, and therefore not the most accessible. Where would be a good place to start? (This may have been answered, but I’ve been skimming the last few posts to avoid spoilers). If you're into sci-fi, Solaris, it's a scenario you've seen before just in a completely different way than how other directors would do it. If not, maybe Ivan's Childhood, which is also a pretty straightforward story. But Stalker is absolutely a masterpiece so I dunno, maybe that's the best place to start.
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Jan 25, 2018 02:06
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the mirror the mirror the mirror the mirror the mirror
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Jan 25, 2018 03:49
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Electronico6 posted:half of it is russian highway footage. oddly enough, i thought that was the most interesting part. but maybe that's how stockholm syndrome works
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Jan 25, 2018 04:33
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I think it was actually Tokyo highway footage, and it might correspond to one of the times Tarkovsky met up with Kurosawa as in this picture (and probably before Kurosawa's ghastly suicide attempt)
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Jan 25, 2018 04:51
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Jurgan posted:All this Tarkovsky talk reminds me I’ve been meaning to look into him, but his films have a reputation for being long and slow, and therefore not the most accessible. Where would be a good place to start? (This may have been answered, but I’ve been skimming the last few posts to avoid spoilers). He's maybe just a slightly more patient David Lynch. I have only seen Stalker and I don't see why that's not a good place to just jump in.
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Jan 25, 2018 04:57
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Coaaab posted:I think it was actually Tokyo highway footage, and it might correspond to one of the times Tarkovsky met up with Kurosawa as in this picture (and probably before Kurosawa's ghastly suicide attempt) You right the footage is from Tokyo, and the meet with Kurosawa was around Solaris production, he visited the set and everything. It's also from the time they got drunk on vodka in a bar and started singing the theme tune from Seven Samurai, which is a crime that wasn't caught on film. Now that is connecting with nature before lift off. In regards to Stalker, it's probably his most 'movie' picture, in the sense that there is a discernable plot and characters, a journey, and the dialogue isn't super garbled with Christian philosophising, and it's length just feels right. As for The Zone chat from before, I like Adam Curtis interpretation, that we're all living in The Zone now, a place that looks real and normal but not quite, but we're all too trapped and invested in this mock reality to do anything about it. So dumb poo poo like Trump is what The Zone spits back.
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Jan 25, 2018 11:47
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Just rewatched it last night actually. The movie definitely is showing you at several points that The Zone can extend outwards beyond just whatever they think of as the area where the "meteorite" fell. The dog that follows them back, the use of color at the end, Monkey's ending scene, etc. So yea I like the interpretation that The Zone of the film only holds up a mirror to The Zone that we're living in every day. A constantly shifting reality where truth doesn't objectively exist. You have to create your own truth.
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Jan 25, 2018 14:49
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The Sacrifice is playing right now on MUBI in Canada (and assuming elsewhere too), so for those that already subscribe or want to sign up for the free trial, there's that. And FYI, it's leaving in the next few days or so too. I echo all the love and puzzled thoughts on Stalker - having only watched it for the first time last summer, it's one I still wrestle with but can't get out of my head. It's one of those films where it's reputation kept me from seeing for a while until I felt I was 'ready' for it - Persona was the same way. Now, I wished I had watched it sooner.
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Jan 25, 2018 17:26
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This conversation is reminding me that back about ten years ago I watched Stalker and Solaris, ended up liking Solaris more at the time but have yet to revisit it. I think I'll add getting through the whole Tarkovsky filmography to my 2018 projects.Electronico6 posted:half of it is russian highway footage. I liked that part of it, but I'm a bit of a sucker for good highway footage. There's a point in Happy Together where a character says "I wonder what Hong Kong looks like upside down", the film cuts to an inverted highway shot and it's the best.
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Jan 25, 2018 18:16
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Zogo posted:#8 Dancer in the Dark - The conclusion of the trilogy. 1/17/18 While I have not seen it myself, Von Trier is one of the most interesting directors working now, on and off screen. With the recent controversy involving this film, now is probably the perfect time to watch it. Tootsie (1982; Sydney Pollack) This is an interesting movie to watch in 2018. Dustin Hoffman plays an actor who's been out of work for over 2 years. No one wants to work with him becaause he's headstrong, he can't be controlled, and he's an rear end in a top hat. His agent suggests therapy. Hard cut to him dressed as a women walking to an audition for a popular soap opera, which he nails, because he's head-strong woman who can't be controlled and isn't afraid to be an rear end in a top hat. She's exactly the strong woman they've been looking for! Hoffman gets the gig, which will fund future acting gigs, and earn him success as the actress Dorothy Parker. Along the way he will be sexually harrassed every day in the work place, fall in love with a co-star, ruin a life-long friendship and jeopardize the careers of everyone around him. "It's hard to be a woman in the 1980's", confides Jessica Lange's character, to Dorothy, who stares at her with creepy love eyes. This film is an interesting portrait of toxic males. The director is dating his main actress, but also having an affair with another actress, touches women inappropriately on the set. The older actor on the show is known as "The Tongue" because he uses any kissing scene (or really any opportunity). Dustin Hoffman spends an entire party aggressively flirting with women. He has sex with his female friend as a way to lie and hide the fact that he was trying on her dress. The jokes teeter around offensive areas (Hoffman's character as Dorothy has to kiss a much older unattractive co-star in a scene, and does everything he can to not kiss him; is he scared to kiss him because he's not gay and couldn't possibly kiss another man? or is it because the co-star is blatantly an old unattractive man who is using this opportunity to prey on the new woman on set?). The idea of Dorothy Michaels is strange. Dustin Hoffman's character uses his feminine mask to mold what is seemingly his idea of the perfect woman: She is incredibly moralistic--she doesn't drink, she doesn't swear, most of her improvisations are to argue for women's dignities, she inspires everyone around her, the men want her even though most of them admit she's ugly... Hoffman also says he is a better person while embracing his feminine side. He also laments being a "Nice Guy" not able to find someone. He also uses the confidence of his female friends to manipulate them so he can try and sleep with them. The film seems to be cutting jabs at men who view women as housewives, or the men who like strong women because they're attractive, or men who get angry at strong women in the workforce. However, with Dorothy, it seems to be lampooning feminists with the generic stereotype, or maybe it's lampooning the stereotype. I can't tell where this movie's earnestness lies. It seems comfortable with admitting that Dustin Hoffman's character is a bad guy, but he still gets a happy ending in the end. It seems to posit that a female role-model can only be influential if it's a man, or at least masculine, but that also Dustin Hoffman's character is a better person for "embracing his feminine side". Most of the drama for the other characters deal with sexual harassment, gender norms, gender roles; to a modern eye there seems to be a wink about what sexual harassment is like on closed sets in the entertainment industry. On a technical level, this movie is good. It's a shot better than most modern comedies. The camera is never flashy or stylish. The performances are all great. Bill Murray is a stand-out as Dustin Hoffman's eccentric playwright room-mate who acts as Hoffman's conscience. Jessica Lange is incredibly charming, Geena Davis is background candy, Dabney Coleman is great as the sleazy overly-charming director who quietly falls apart with losing control to Dorothy, Sydney Pollack pops in to deliver some good routines as Hoffman's manager. The comedic timing in this film is also very good. I laughed quite a bit, especially with the ending when Hoffman--driven to brink of madness at how much trouble has culminated around the Dorothy character--reveals the truth. More thoughts on this one than I was expecting, but it's fascinating to watch a movie that is certainly a great comedy about hot topics in modern times. My List M. (1931; Fritz Lang; Criterion) - (1.26.18) Proto-slasher, landmark in film history, very famous director...Never seen it. Bicycle Thieves (1948; Vittorio De Sica; Criterion) - (1.21.18) The mandatory film school movie. Sideways (2004; A. Payne) - (11.19.17) Can it really be as good as everyone says it is? I liked Nebraska and About Schmidt Monsier Hulot's Holiday (1953; J. Tati; Criterion) - (11.7.17) A lot of my favorite director's love this little comedy, and I needed something on this list from the 50's Akira (1988; Katsuhiro Ōtomo) - (8.31.17) I wanted to add some classic animated movies I haven't seen, this being the BIG one I've missed out on. Stranger Than Paradise (1984; J. Jarmusch; Criterion) - (8.25.17) I love everything I've seen of Jim Jarmusch, which only amounts to 5 films. This is his first film. I've only seen the first 15 minutes. Philadelphia (1993; J. Demme) - (8.21.17) Trying to fill in my Jonathan Demme gaps. A huge moment in Tom Hanks's career that seems to have been forgotten by modern audiences. (Currently on Prime) In Cold Blood (1967; R. Brooks; Criterion) - (6.29.17) I've read the book, which I enjoyed. I know the movie looks great, I've seen the famous window rain show. I own it on blu-ray. The Thin Red Line (1998; T. Malick; Criterion) - (6.27.17) My only Terrence Malick film I've seen is Tree of Life, which I really enjoyed. Fitzcarraldo (1982; W. Herzog; Criterion) - (6.23.17) The other big Werner Herzog narrative I haven't seen. COMPLETED: Aguirre: The Wrath of God; Casablanca; After Hours; Schindler's List; Ikiru; F for Fake; Raging Bull; The Seventh Seal; Treasure of the Sierra Madre; Lawrence of Arabia; The French Connection; In The Mood For Love; Stalker; Tootise Letterboxd
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Jan 27, 2018 02:35
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Franchescanado posted:M. (1931; Fritz Lang; Criterion) - (1.26.18) Proto-slasher, landmark in film history, very famous director...Never seen it. You had a lot of good choices but I am assigning you M. I was given Repulsion a long time ago and finally watched it. I think film theory theses could be written about this movie through the filter of what we know about Roman Polanski now. And you really can't separate art from the artist in this instance. First off, the slow descent into madness was brilliant and you can see where Lynch got a lot of inspiration for Eraserhead. At first I felt like this was a story about what happens to a woman after a daily onslaught of male sexual aggression but, after thinking about it, a seeing that she kills the only man who wishes to treat her well I can't help but think that isn't the theme at all. What is inherently "scary" about Repulsion is a woman that doesn't like sex and is willing to fight back against men. Now the final shot of the film where we see the family photo but we can only see Carol and her father (Carol seems to be staring at him in anger) makes us think that he is the cause of her hatred of men. So man created this monster. But, in the end, Carol feels empty to me and when you scratch the surface of this film you really find it isn't about a woman at all, it is a movie about men's fears of women. From the IMDB Top 250: Once Upon a Time in America 1984 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die Wiki: Les Vampires (1915) From the Janus Arthouse Essential Collection: Umberto D. (1952) In memoriam, From Roger Ebert's Top Films of All Time List: Notorious (1946) Best Movies of All Time based on the Tomatometer (sigh) Score: AFI 100 Years 100 Movies: The Best Years Of Our Lives (1946) List of films considered the best, Wikipedia: Cross of Iron (1977) The Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made, NY Times: A Nous la Liberte (1932) Best 100 Movies Ever Made, TIME Magazine: Nayakan (1987) The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time, Empire Online: A Matter of Life and Death (1946) Completed Assignments: Mad Max, The Conversation, Tombstone, Diabolique, The Last Picture Show, Fanny and Alexander, Dawn of the Dead, The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly, Bridge on the River Kwai, Robot & Frank, 12 Angry Men, Seven Samurai, City Lights, Spartacus, La Règle du Jeu, Gravity, Mud, Aguirre, Wrath of God, Andrei Rublev, Captain Phillips, Mr Smith Goes to Washington, The King of Marvin Gardens, Once Upon a Time in the West, Still Walking, Come and See, Tokyo Story, The Intouchables, All About Eve, The Lives Of Others, L' Avventura, Paths Of Glory, Floating Weeds, High Noon, Jailhouse Rock, Gates of Heaven, Repulsion
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Jan 29, 2018 16:35
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York_M_Chan posted:The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time, Empire Online: A Matter of Life and Death (1946) Adaptation - At first viewing I don't think I could call this my favorite Kaufman, but it's probably his best script. Wow. It's been a couple days and I'm still having a hard time fully gathering my thoughts about it and will definitely need to revisit this one. I really liked the way it was both meta and structured so unconventionally but without any twists or gotchas that sometimes come with that. It's a master work of screen writing to be so complex and not also showy about it. There was a surprising amount of warmth in it given all the self-loathing and doubt on display, and for all the criticism of the popular cinema (in the first two acts at least) none of it is aimed at the audience. I feel that Jonze and Kaufman really cared for me as a viewer and the indulgences of the third act made for a great ending. The movie also has an absolutely amazing cast. 5/5 List: Early Summer - watched Late Spring earlier this year and really need to catch up on Ozu Ran - it's been a while since I've watched any Kurosawa, need to finish off the big ones Yi Yi - I've realized Edward Yang is the best, and this is his most well-known. I think it is also the only Chinese-language film in the Criterion Collection (a depressingly short list) I haven't seen Goodbye, Dragon Inn - been watching a lot of Taiwanese films lately, I should probably check out Tsai Ming-liang. Also it's probably not too relevant, but I loved Dragon Inn Rio Bravo - know the song, never saw the film Blood and Black Lace - horror The Music Room - probably not the recommended place to start with Satyajit Ray, but I bought it and should really watch it Les Vampires - need to watch more silents and I just saw Irma Vep and loved it Gates of Heaven - documentaries Funny Games - who's this Haneke? Completed(22): A Nightmare on Elm Street [4/5], Vertigo [5/5], Repulsion [4/5], Last Year at Marienbad [5/5], Blade Runner[4/5], Akira [5/5], Rear Window [5/5], A Brighter Summer Day [5/5], Rosemary's Baby [5/5], Close Encounters of the Third Kind [4/5], The Godfather Part 2 [5/5], Citizen Kane [5/5], Godzilla [5/5], Psycho [5/5], The Exorcist [4/5], The Blair Witch Project [4/5], Cléo from 5 to 7 [5/5], Faces [4/5], North by Northwest [4/5], Moonlight [5/5], The Act of Killing [5/5], Adaptation [5/5] letterboxd
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Jan 29, 2018 18:20
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FancyMike posted:Adaptation - At first viewing I don't think I could call this my favorite Kaufman, but it's probably his best script. Wow. It's been a couple days and I'm still having a hard time fully gathering my thoughts about it and will definitely need to revisit this one. I really liked the way it was both meta and structured so unconventionally but without any twists or gotchas that sometimes come with that. It's a master work of screen writing to be so complex and not also showy about it. There was a surprising amount of warmth in it given all the self-loathing and doubt on display, and for all the criticism of the popular cinema (in the first two acts at least) none of it is aimed at the audience. I feel that Jonze and Kaufman really cared for me as a viewer and the indulgences of the third act made for a great ending. The movie also has an absolutely amazing cast. 5/5 I'm glad you enjoyed it! It's a movie that rewards each viewing: there's lots of thematic threads to latch onto and explore, the cast is sensational, the writing is dense but never obtuse... I remember kinda realizing "Hey, I watch this movie every few months, I think about it often, I recommend it all the time, I relate to it more than I'd like to admit...I think this is my favorite movie." Right after Gilliam's Brazil, of course, which I knew on my first viewing that it was going to stay my favorite for a long time.
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Jan 29, 2018 18:46
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Franchescanado posted:the writing is dense but never obtuse... This was really the key for me. There is so much there and the movie is constantly inviting you to engage with it completely earnestly without a shred of condescension. And I love that there doesn't seem to be a specific point where the movie reveals itself or even expects the viewer to realize what is happening. I feel like on first viewing everyone probably has their own point where the narrative clicked and it all comes around so naturally.
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Jan 29, 2018 18:55
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FancyMike posted:This was really the key for me. There is so much there and the movie is constantly inviting you to engage with it completely earnestly without a shred of condescension. And I love that there doesn't seem to be a specific point where the movie reveals itself or even expects the viewer to realize what is happening. I feel like on first viewing everyone probably has their own point where the narrative clicked and it all comes around so naturally. I remember a big  moment for me on my first watch was the evolution segment and then later Charlie getting inspired to write the evolution segment*. I also love quizzing people about when they think Donald takes over the script and we switch to his "world"/"reality".I also wonder what the producers thought when they read the script and saw the Charlie character having sexual fantasies about *a fun comparison is to Mallick's Tree of Life. In Adaptation., the evolution segment is a little bizarre, but it's heavily tied to the themes and the ideas Charlie is trying to parse through. In Tree of Life, it's a beautiful, but off-puttingly obtuse sequence kinda thrown in there.
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Jan 29, 2018 19:04
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Franchescanado posted:I remember a big As soon as they arrive in Florida. That's the first step I noticed that Charlie wouldn't have been able to write on his own. I'm also remembering now how good it is every time the two of them are on screen together. Cage is a very good actor.
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Jan 29, 2018 21:23
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FancyMike posted:As soon as they arrive in Florida. That's the first step I noticed that Charlie wouldn't have been able to write on his own. I think it's right after Donald reads the screenplay. The next scene is his writing and remains his until he dies/sacrifices himself. I'm due for a rewatch though, so I may be wrong. Adaptation. is why I will die on the hill of Nic Cage being a very good actor. It's my go-to example where he is inarguably great. (Raising Arizona should be this, but some people argue they adapted the film around his acting strengths and not vice-versa.) I also think it's probably my favorite One Actor Plays Twins role. Jeremy Irons in Dead Ringers may have it beat, but I need to rewatch that movie.
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Jan 29, 2018 21:47
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Wait are there people who think Cage is a bad actor
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Jan 29, 2018 22:15
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Magic Hate Ball posted:Wait are there people who think Cage is a bad actor More like he became a caricature of himself for a while there when he was saddled with these mediocre(at best) projects because of his financial problems. For like an entire decade the material he was working with wasn't up to his level. That's still the case for the most part, maybe Mom and Dad is the start of a New Era of Cage. I hope so. There have always been people who want to argue that Leaving Las Vegas was a fluke though. His accent in Con Air is a go-to joke that a lot of people like to bring out to argue that he's a bad actor.
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Jan 29, 2018 22:24
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Magic Hate Ball posted:Wait are there people who think Cage is a bad actor Not on SA, but I've met many people offline who hate him, and I have one or two friends that refused to watch his movies for the longest time.
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Jan 29, 2018 22:25
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I think not enough people saw KNOW1NG
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Jan 29, 2018 22:25
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Magic Hate Ball posted:I think not enough people saw KNOW1NG I've never seen Knowing, but I try to get as many people to see Wild At Heart and Adaptation as I can.
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Jan 29, 2018 22:26
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Franchescanado posted:Not on SA, but I've met many people offline who hate him, and I have one or two friends that refused to watch his movies for the longest time. Nic Cage is cool forever for Raising Arizona alone.
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Jan 30, 2018 00:33
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FancyMike I gotta go with Kurosawa, watch Ran. Took me almost three years but I did it, I finally watched Inside Llewyn Davis! It's immaculate film making by the Coen almost effortlessly so, all very nice looking, and all very well acted, yet weirdly distant, very moody, and at many points frustratingly devoid of any story or even character. Found Llewyn Davis to be it's main weakness even with Oscar Issac doing a good job, despite following through every minute of the film, he never seems to have any more to him than the side characters that pop up from time to time. It's part of it, I think, Davis is a shallow person despite what he believes, but it makes it really hard to stay for his aimless adventures through life. Like Al Cody, Troy Nelson and the Gorfeins, are incredible little characters that just remind one on how funny and to the point the Coens can be, yet one is stuck with Davis who is just so depressing. Yet I can't say I dislike the film. Coen brothers are just too good at this poo poo at this point, so it's never really boring, just cold and that Llewyn Davis would be a character that they would be making fun of 10 years ago. Guess making dumb comedies with George Clooney all those years ago finally caught up with them.(Then they made another one right after  )SHAME Part III The Director's Cut: Rio Bravo John Wayne nooooooooo Carol Todd Haynes is cool, Blanchett is cool The Crime of Monsieur Lange Renoir Pickpocket More French stuff Withnail& I It came from England Paisan Keeping my voyage through Italy with Scor[sese TheYoung Girls of Rochefort A musical (i think) Under the Skin Species IV The Thin Blue Line I already seen a bunch of Morris stuff, yet still missing this one Tristana The other Bunuel and Deneuve collaboration Have watched so far 72 movies: Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Fallen Angels, The Shop Around the Corner, La Strada, Little Dieter Needs to Fly, Rescue Dawn, All About My Mother, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, The Long Goodbye, Vampyr, Mon Oncle, The Exterminating Angel, Jules et Jim, Sorcerer, The Darjeeling Limited, Close-up, Arsenic and Old Lace, The Host, Zelig, Koyaanisqatsi, Young Mr. Lincoln, The Last Picture Show, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, The Killer, Anatomy of a Murder, The Trouble with Harry, Don't Look Now, L'Atalante, Cache, The Leopard, Steamboat Bill, Jr., Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Dancer in the Dark, How Green Was My Valley, Vivre sa Vie, Harvey, The Earrings of Madame de..., The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, Tokyo Drifter, The Player, Intolerable Cruelty, The Insider, Late Spring, Munich, Juliet of the Spirits, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, La Chienne, Le Cercle Rouge, The Lady Eve, Primer, Roma città aperta, Black Narcissus, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, Simon of the Desert, A Foreign Affair, Branded to Kill, In Bruges, Black Swan, The White Diamond, The Sting, Romeo + Juliet, Bronson, The Magician, 2046, Witness for Prosecution, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, I Vitelloni, Sonatine, Ivan's Childhood, Week End, Ninotchka, Gone Girl, Inside Llewyn Davis
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Feb 4, 2018 01:34
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Electronico6 posted:Under the Skin Species IV Welcome back to the thread. Dancer in the Dark - Björk plays a unique character here in another unique film. Rarely is someone given a role with this set of circumstances. A blind woman taking part in an amateurish production of The Sound of Music that daydreams in bright musical segments in between destroying manufacturing equipment at her day job. She's saving up $$$ to pay for eye surgery on her son but foolishly stores it in her home rather than in an FDIC insured bank. Naturally the landlord (a police officer) whose wife is burning through all their cash decides to take it all. I've heard many stories of evil people taking advantage of the blind like this over the years. This cutthroat cop eventually regrets his decision when Selma (Björk) confronts him. This cop is really screwed up though and in a hilariously odd scene demands that Selma shoot him to death. She obliges and pumps him full of lead albeit regretfully and slowly as she's blind. The moral of this segment is that one should NOT have a blind person shoot oneself. He survives and she has to hit him on the head numerous times with a very large metal bank box. Selma's put in front of something not far from a kangaroo court and given a death sentence. Near the end some of the characters realize that Selma has been highly deceptive in motivation and they quickly give her an ultimatum of saving her child's eyes, her own life or neither. A big Catch-22. We're given a hardcore ending with our protagonist screeching at the gallows and then abruptly hanging. The road to hell is paved with good intentions whether you're the executioner or the executionee. Also watched: Gone Baby Gone - Casey Affleck plays a PI who's on the hunt for a young girl who's gone missing. He nearly gets shot a few times over his cavalierness when dealing with Boston slugs, punks and assorted keystone cops. It's thought to be a standard pedophile abduction at first so the cops are rounding up all the usual deviants but then it's revealed that the mother is actually a cokehead with some drug dealing enemies. One of these dudes is named "Cheese" so the spotlight turns onto him but he's just the fall guy of a sanctimonious top cop played by Morgan Freeman. This one has some misdirections and I figured there were some big twists coming because the story seemed to be wrapped up after an hour. At times it may be too unintentionally funny with obnoxious Bostonians roasting each other and getting into domestic arguments but then it gets disturbing when the cops and PI start executing people. In the end it brings up a kind of tired LAW vs. MORALS ethics debate. The cops and law enforcement regress into childlike thinking and believe they can execute people and steal children like they're Judge Dredd and/or the traffic cops in Magnum Force (1973). Our PI believes in the rule of law though (eventually) and he rightfully prevails. PS I thought this was similar to Mystic River and it turns out that Dennis Lehane wrote both of these. James Bond versus Godzilla (27/64 completed): Godzilla vs. Gigan - Godzilla XII. Kind of interested to see this one as I've heard very little about it. Only twenty or so to go. 7/27/17 Esquire's 75 Movies Every Man Should See (68/74 completed): #5 Save the Tiger - Going into this one blind. 1/17/18 #14 Runaway Train - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRtvqT_wMeY 1/5/18 #17 Lone Star (1996) - I've heard it's an underwatched one. 12/1/17 #21 Johnny Dangerously - Michael Keaton turns to crime. 12/1/17 #51 The Big Kahuna - Something about salesmen. 12/19/17 #66 Run Silent, Run Deep - Supposedly a premier submarine film. 10/20/17 Premiere’s 25 Most Dangerous Movies (19/25 completed): new #3 Romper Stomper - I remember this being a favorite of people many years back. 2/3/18 #4 Natural Born Killers - I remember when this came out it was making people physically ill. 1/23/18 new #7 Freaks - Never felt like watching this one. 2/3/18 Zogo fucked around with this message at 06:37 on Feb 4, 2018 |
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Feb 4, 2018 02:40
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Zogo, only movie on your list that I saw was Johnny Dangerously, which I thought was hysterical when I was a kid. Not sure how it holds up now as an adult. This is your next movie. Saw The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. Very fun and imaginative movie from Terry Gilliam. Great set design and costumes. Really love movies that I don't know where they are going. Was surprised all through. Loved the celebration of fantasy and whimsy over reason and rationality. Sometimes fantasy and silliness is needed more than reason and serious thought. My List: The Shootist - Feel like it's time for another John Wayne movie. Lost In Translation Jabberwocky - Following up one Terry Gilliam movie with another. NEWEST The General - Never saw a Buster Keaton movie. The Cocoanuts - Working my way through the Marx Brothers movies. This is their first movie. The Cat Returns - Need to see some more Studio Ghibli. Sequel to Whisper of the Heart OLDEST Stray Dog - Starting to run out of Kurosawa films. What a great director. Oklahoma - Don't know anything about it. Next on my musicals list. Die Nibelungen - Interested in seeing another Fritz Lang picture. Shadow of a Doubt - More Hitchcock here. King Creole - Adding a new slot here for Elvis, Sinatra, Beatles movies. Starting with one of Elvis'. Movies Seen: Seven Samurai, Dune, Singin' in the Rain, Animal Crackers, Once Upon a Time in the West, Amadeus, Double Indemnity, The Day the Earth Stood Still, 12 Angry Men, Ed Wood, Sunset Boulevard, The Dark Knight, Plan 9 From Outer Space, Brazil, Rashomon, Yojimbo, No Country For Old Men, There Will Be Blood, M, Duck Soup, The Princess and the Frog, Sanjuro, The Hidden Fortress, Dracula, It's a Wonderful Life, Lawrence of Arabia, Ikiru, High and Low, Frankenstein, The Mummy, Monty Python's The Meaning of Life, Kagemusha, Best In Show, Modern Times, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Red Beard, Monty Python's The Life of Brian, Cars, Cool Hand Luke, The Public Enemy, Time Bandits, Adaptation, The Producers, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Gone With The Wind, My Fair Lady, City Lights, A Christmas Carol(1951), Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, West Side Story, Caddyshack, My Neighbor Totoro, Throne of Blood, The Phantom of the Opera, Yellow Submarine, Little Caesar, The Third Man, The Godfather, Persepolis, The Godfather Part II, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, The Invisible Man, The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Bridge on the River Kwai, A Beautiful Mind, The Kid, Fiddler on the Roof, The Gold Rush, Metropolis, Rear Window, Enter the Dragon, Horse Feathers, The Great Dictator, Despicable Me, The Bad Sleep Well, The Wolf Man, Nosferatu, Patton, Howl's Moving Castle, The King and I, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Kiki's Delivery Service, The King's Speech, Grave of the Fireflies, Porco Rosso, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, The Graduate, Whisper of the Heart, The 39 Steps, Ran, Notorious, True Grit, North By Northwest, Rope, Dersu Uzala, Vertigo, Avatar, Gangs of New York, House of Wax, Wall Street, Life of Pi, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari,The Big Lebowski, Dial M for Murder, V For Vendetta, King Kong, Dodesukaden, Labyrinth, Reds,Seven Brides for Seven Brothers,Strangers on a Train,The Fast and the Furious, Faust, Eraserhead, A Day at the Races,The Adventures of Baron Munchausen Dmitri Russkie fucked around with this message at 16:27 on Feb 4, 2018 |
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Feb 4, 2018 16:20
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Dmitri Russkie you making me choose between Kurosawa and Hitchcock is hell, but Shadow of a Doubt is top tier Hitchcock so enjoy that one. Under the Skin is great and legit horrifying. It's a difficult film, it takes it's time to establish it's atmosphere, very little dialog, and early on the Alien being played (superbly) by Scarlett Johansson is slightly inscrutable, but as it slowly gets going it becomes mesmerizing. All the scenes on the beach, where Scarlett just bemusedly watches a couple drowning and a stranger trying to save them, coupled with the the incredible sharp and detached camerawork and cinematography is genuinely distressing. On the other side of that coin, the encounter with the Elephant Man where Scarlett finally starts to connect with humans and her own humanity, is oddly moving. The film does start to feel long towards the end, but the final scenes and the ending are just arresting. Incredible stuff. Also the guy that brings Scarlett back to his home and makes her dinner, just gives her beans on toast. What a champ. SHAME Part III The Director's Cut: Rio Bravo John Wayne nooooooooo Carol Todd Haynes is cool, Blanchett is cool The Crime of Monsieur Lange Renoir Pickpocket More French stuff Withnail & I It came from England Paisan Keeping my voyage through Italy with another Scorsese favorite TheYoung Girls of Rochefort A musical (i think) The Thin Blue Line I already seen a bunch of Morris stuff, yet this one still shames me Tristana The other Bunuel and Deneuve collaboration Manhunter Missing out this one from the Hannibal Lecter canon Have watched so far 73 movies: Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Fallen Angels, The Shop Around the Corner, La Strada, Little Dieter Needs to Fly, Rescue Dawn, All About My Mother, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, The Long Goodbye, Vampyr, Mon Oncle, The Exterminating Angel, Jules et Jim, Sorcerer, The Darjeeling Limited, Close-up, Arsenic and Old Lace, The Host, Zelig, Koyaanisqatsi, Young Mr. Lincoln, The Last Picture Show, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, The Killer, Anatomy of a Murder, The Trouble with Harry, Don't Look Now, L'Atalante, Cache, The Leopard, Steamboat Bill, Jr., Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Dancer in the Dark, How Green Was My Valley, Vivre sa Vie, Harvey, The Earrings of Madame de..., The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, Tokyo Drifter, The Player, Intolerable Cruelty, The Insider, Late Spring, Munich, Juliet of the Spirits, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, La Chienne, Le Cercle Rouge, The Lady Eve, Primer, Roma città aperta, Black Narcissus, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, Simon of the Desert, A Foreign Affair, Branded to Kill, In Bruges, Black Swan, The White Diamond, The Sting, Romeo + Juliet, Bronson, The Magician, 2046, Witness for Prosecution, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, I Vitelloni, Sonatine, Ivan's Childhood, Week End, Ninotchka, Gone Girl, Inside Llewyn Davis, Under the Skin.
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Feb 4, 2018 17:43
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Ashes and Diamonds I'm gonna out myself as a dummy and state that a lot of this movie went over my head - these kinds of films mainly serve to prove to me how much I don't know about history. Who is what? Why are they shooting at each other? What qualifies as "left-wing"? Some reading-up done after the movie answered a lot of questions but while watching it I kind of had to defocus, which made it feel like a Beckett play, and I kind of liked that, it helped open up the more absurd and melancholic elements while illustrating where 60s-modern absurdism came from. The whole film is a cluttered glut of information that not only arrives unbidden but demands to be attended to, and gradually it becomes difficult to tell what's ideology and what's momentum. As the main character (the "Polish James Dean") says to the man giving him orders - "Andre! Do you believe in all of this?", to which he replies, "Me? That's of no importance." It bursts with scathing irony and sweet, gentle sadness, which keeps it from being merely polemic. By virtue of demonstration we are made to understand the toll persistent and hapless violence takes on a people - the subject of assassination is given an arc in which his own son is lost to him on the other side of the political divide, and when he's shot, he collapses into the arms of our hero in what could only be an embrace. Fireworks go off and the emotion is genuinely shocking. Later, the hero dies, having been driven by the threat of being labeled a deserter to commit a murder and flee, but he dies alone in a garbage patch, weeping - what is it to put off your own life in need of serving someone else's? The central romance fell flat for me but the accompanying poetic images buoy it up - the dangling crucifix, the white horse, the smoky room full of people dancing to a drunken polonaise. The Varsovian hotel clerk unfurls a Polish flag and charges it through the open door into the sunlight. These Grand Hotel-esque moments tie the film together. 7/10 shamezone 1) A Poem Is A Naked Person - more les blank! 2) A Room With A View - yeah 3) No End - poland 1 4) The Pillow Book - greenaway 5) The Entertainer - ?? 6) La Notte - just shoot me 7) The Act Of Killing - recently acclaimed 8) Veronika Voss - plowing forward with fassbinder 9) Meantime - 80s underground 10) Desert Hearts - i hate sand [full list] Floating Weeds 9/10, Daisies 8/10, Stray Dog 8/10, Victim 6/10, Man Bites Dog 9/10, Night and Fog 10/10, Weekend 8/10, Jubilee 10/10, Sans Soleil 10/10, Candidate 8/10, Valerie and Her Week of Wonders 10/10, The Freshman 5/10, Garlic Is As Good As Ten Mothers 10/10, Branded to Kill 8/10, In Heaven There Is No Beer? 10/10, Blood Simple 10/10, The Marriage of Maria Braun 7/10, A Day In The Country 7/10, A Brief History of Time 10/10, Gates of Heaven 10/10, The Thin Blue Line 10/10, The Fog of War 10/10, My Beautiful Laundrette 10/10, Blind Chance 8/10, My Winnipeg 10/10, The River 7/10, Odd Man Out 8/10, The Passion of Anna 9/10, Brute Force 10/10, The Rite 5/10, The Piano Teacher 10/10, Ashes and Diamonds 7/10 (total: 133) Electronico6 - The Thin Blue Line
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Feb 4, 2018 22:36
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Magic Hate Ball you gave me a documentary, so i'll give you a documentary, watch The Act of Killing These true-crime documentaries and narratives aren't really my thing, so I can't quite say that I was that completely captivated by The Thin Blue Line. Though I really can't find any real fault in it, it's pitch perfect in it's approach and it lets the frustration and the incredulity of the case built by itself over the course of the picture without ever tipping it's hand or having the filmmaker come in to set matters straight, something that stuff like Serial or Making a Murderer seem to often fail at. The whole case is also one of those great "stranger than fiction" moments. One of the first things the police does when investigating the case is to bring in a hypnotist on their supposedly star witness, and the police man just states this as a matter of fact like it's a completely valid line of investigation, and things just get more stupid from there. But anyway, it's not really my kind of movie, but I kinda admire it for how it's delivered, and what it achieved. Also, the insanely frustrating wannabe detective lady and her husband felt like characters straight out of a Coen Bros script or something. "Good grief. She's a ho, but she find out you done something, she turn you in.", what a pair of baffling human beings. SHAME Part III The Director's Cut: Rio Bravo John Wayne nooooooooo Carol Todd Haynes is cool, Blanchett is cool The Crime of Monsieur Lange Renoir Pickpocket More French stuff Withnail & I It came from England Paisan Keeping my voyage through Italy with another Scorsese favourite The Young Girls of Rochefort A musical (i think) Tristana The other Bunuel and Deneuve collaboration Manhunter Missing out this one from the Hannibal Lecter canon Sullivan's Travels Was quite cold on The Lady Eve so hoping this is better Have watched so far 74 movies: Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Fallen Angels, The Shop Around the Corner, La Strada, Little Dieter Needs to Fly, Rescue Dawn, All About My Mother, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, The Long Goodbye, Vampyr, Mon Oncle, The Exterminating Angel, Jules et Jim, Sorcerer, The Darjeeling Limited, Close-up, Arsenic and Old Lace, The Host, Zelig, Koyaanisqatsi, Young Mr. Lincoln, The Last Picture Show, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, The Killer, Anatomy of a Murder, The Trouble with Harry, Don't Look Now, L'Atalante, Cache, The Leopard, Steamboat Bill, Jr., Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Dancer in the Dark, How Green Was My Valley, Vivre sa Vie, Harvey, The Earrings of Madame de..., The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, Tokyo Drifter, The Player, Intolerable Cruelty, The Insider, Late Spring, Munich, Juliet of the Spirits, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, La Chienne, Le Cercle Rouge, The Lady Eve, Primer, Roma città aperta, Black Narcissus, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, Simon of the Desert, A Foreign Affair, Branded to Kill, In Bruges, Black Swan, The White Diamond, The Sting, Romeo + Juliet, Bronson, The Magician, 2046, Witness for Prosecution, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, I Vitelloni, Sonatine, Ivan's Childhood, Week End, Ninotchka, Gone Girl, Inside Llewyn Davis, Under the Skin, The Thin Blue Line
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Feb 5, 2018 11:32
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Electronico6 posted:Withnail & I It came from England I learned about this movie back when it was a CineD Movie of the Month pick. I never watched it! But it sounds funny and looks awesome, and I've been told it would be one of my favorites once I watch it, so it will probably go on my list very soon. I hope you enjoy it! M. (1931; Fritz Lang) Quick note, I write these under the impression that the reader has seen this movie (this is the Shameful thread, of course). I came into this movie knowing only that it was about a killer, and it's an early horror movie/thriller. If you haven't seen this movie yet, please skip this review and immediately add it to your list or watch it yourself, because it is best experienced unspoiled. That said, this movie is almost 90 years old, so it's open game for spoilers. Duh-duh-duh-drat. This came out the same year as Dracula? How did Fritz Lang achieve this kind of film in his era? The only thing that separates this film from a modern thriller is that it never explicitly shows the murders, and the pacing is slow. I actually contemplated adjusting the speed to x1.25, but decided against it. I'm glad I had some restraint, because the slower pace actually helps heighten the suspense once the killer has been marked and the city's criminals are after him. Absolutely visually stunning. Every shot is well thought out and creative. The introduction to the killer is masterful: A concerned mother is preparing dinner, waiting for her child to come home. We see a little girl on the street playing with a ball. The ball is thrown into the air in front of a sign. The sign fills the screen. It warns of a killer of children, and a handsome reward. The shadow of a man in a hat obscures our warning. He begins to whistle "In The Hall of the Mountain King". He speaks to the little girl, and compliments her ball. He lures her in. This is all one shot.  I admit that I was mislead to believe this was more in line with a modern slasher. While there are those elements, M. has more in common with Zodiac than it does Halloween. I also didn't expect the first half to show the realities of mass hysteria. Everyone is manipulated by their fears, causing accusations to fly and endanger the citizens while the killer walks free. The police have an impossible mission in finding one person without any clues. The city's criminal underbelly is also scared: the police are harassing them, which is bad for business. The solution: the criminals launch their own investigation, with help from the homeless population. This creates the film's most fascinating theme: it is not the police that solves the crime, nor is it the criminals alone, or the homeless people. It is a mixture of every class doing their part to help find the murderer. The reasons are selfish more than moralistic, but the results are the same: It takes the village to protect the children. The second half of the film is the most exciting. The killer is revealed to us explicitly. He attempts to murder a child but is caught and marked by two homeless men working together (one of which is a blind man, and he's one of a few blind characters shown throughout the film). He is chased into a building and locked inside. The crime bosses and their lackeys hunt for the murderer while also trying to avoid the police's attention. The whole search is exciting and made me anxious. We are also treated to the trial of the murderer, and his reasoning for befriending and killing children, crowds screaming for justice; the boisterous works of the judicial system. We end on a heartbreaking moment with the mother from the beginning of the film unable to find enthusiasm for the justice that has been served. Because yes, her daughter's killer has been captured, but her daughter is still dead. It adds a layer of absurdity to the entire action of the film. Fritz Lang has shown us how a town reacts to a serial killer, and yet we have been detached from the actual victims of the crime: the grieving mothers, the scared children. As we've been entertained by chases and investigations, suspense and humor, characters have been silently suffering off-screen. It's certainly a strong note to end on. This was my first Fritz Lang, and I'm excited to explore more. Yes, it'll probably be Metropolis, as soon as I can figure out which version to watch... As a note, whenever a Criterion film is picked for me, I try to get a hold of a physical copy (usually via library) so I can enjoy all of the special features and video essays. As of this writing, I have not received the physical copy, so I may post a follow-up when I do. I am very excited to learn about what went into the production and the cultural influence this movie has had, because it's a drat good one. My List The 400 Blows (1959; François Truffaut; Criterion - (2.6.18) Another "Film School movie" I have never seen; classic of French cinema; recommended by SA goon Kvlt! Bicycle Thieves (1948; Vittorio De Sica; Criterion) - (1.21.18) The mandatory film school movie. Sideways (2004; A. Payne) - (11.19.17) Can it really be as good as everyone says it is? I liked Nebraska and About Schmidt Monsier Hulot's Holiday (1953; J. Tati; Criterion) - (11.7.17) A lot of my favorite director's love this little comedy, and I needed something on this list from the 50's Akira (1988; Katsuhiro Ōtomo) - (8.31.17) I wanted to add some classic animated movies I haven't seen, this being the BIG one I've missed out on. Stranger Than Paradise (1984; J. Jarmusch; Criterion) - (8.25.17) I love everything I've seen of Jim Jarmusch, which only amounts to 5 films. This is his first film. I've only seen the first 15 minutes. Philadelphia (1993; J. Demme) - (8.21.17) Trying to fill in my Jonathan Demme gaps. A huge moment in Tom Hanks's career that seems to have been forgotten by modern audiences. (Currently on Prime) In Cold Blood (1967; R. Brooks; Criterion) - (6.29.17) I've read the book, which I enjoyed. I know the movie looks great, I've seen the famous window rain show. I own it on blu-ray. The Thin Red Line (1998; T. Malick; Criterion) - (6.27.17) My only Terrence Malick film I've seen is Tree of Life, which I really enjoyed. Fitzcarraldo (1982; W. Herzog; Criterion) - (6.23.17) The other big Werner Herzog narrative I haven't seen. COMPLETED: Aguirre: The Wrath of God; Casablanca; After Hours; Schindler's List; Ikiru; F for Fake; Raging Bull; The Seventh Seal; Treasure of the Sierra Madre; Lawrence of Arabia; The French Connection; In The Mood For Love; Stalker; Tootise; M. Letterboxd
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Feb 6, 2018 15:44
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"The boisterous works of the judicial system" is an interesting description of the mock trial in M.
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Feb 6, 2018 15:53
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Samuel Clemens posted:"The boisterous works of the judicial system" is an interesting description of the mock trial in M. It's literally the loudest moment of a very quiet film, which I thought was a fun twist. edit: I'm also home today sick with the flu, so I don't know how much of my review actually makes sense. Franchescanado fucked around with this message at 16:01 on Feb 6, 2018 |
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Feb 6, 2018 15:54
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It's not wrong or anything, I'm just used to "boisterous" having a positive connotation. So seeing it used to describe the rather horrifying court scene feels strange.
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Feb 6, 2018 16:29
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Franchescanado posted:The Thin Red Line (1998; T. Malick; Criterion) - (6.27.17) My only Terrence Malick film I've seen is Tree of Life, which I really enjoyed.  Ran - Ran was incredible. Kurosawa at the peak of his mastery of the form. It's more still, less dynamic than what I'm used to from him but no less exciting and there's still plenty of soldiers running around and a great shot of characters on a hillside while the tall grass blows dramatically in the wind. I'm not sure anyone has shot action as well as Kurosawa and the stand out scene comes fairly early, instead of building to a show-stopping battle we get the big one about an hour in. And it's more of a hellish nightmare than a battle really. There's no sound of the fighting, just the haunting and mournful score while we watch the slaughter of a whole lot more than the 30 men Hidetora was supposed to have with him. It's an angry and nihilistic film that presents no hope at all, but for whatever reason I still felt pretty good when it was over, not sad or depressed or down on humanity. Tatsuya Nakadai gives the best performance and I would gladly watch another three hours of face getting progressively crazier. 5/5  List: Early Summer - watched Late Spring earlier this year and really need to catch up on Ozu Yi Yi - I've realized Edward Yang is the best, and this is his most well-known. I think it is also the only Chinese-language film in the Criterion Collection (a depressingly short list) I haven't seen Goodbye, Dragon Inn - been watching a lot of Taiwanese films lately, I should probably check out Tsai Ming-liang. Also it's probably not too relevant, but I loved Dragon Inn Rio Bravo - know the song, never saw the film Blood and Black Lace - horror The Music Room - probably not the recommended place to start with Satyajit Ray, but I bought it and should really watch it Les Vampires - need to watch more silents and I just saw Irma Vep and loved it Gates of Heaven - documentaries Funny Games - who's this Haneke? Fitzcarraldo - I've seen Aguirre, but that's it so far for Herzog Completed(23): A Nightmare on Elm Street [4/5], Vertigo [5/5], Repulsion [4/5], Last Year at Marienbad [5/5], Blade Runner[4/5], Akira [5/5], Rear Window [5/5], A Brighter Summer Day [5/5], Rosemary's Baby [5/5], Close Encounters of the Third Kind [4/5], The Godfather Part 2 [5/5], Citizen Kane [5/5], Godzilla [5/5], Psycho [5/5], The Exorcist [4/5], The Blair Witch Project [4/5], Cléo from 5 to 7 [5/5], Faces [4/5], North by Northwest [4/5], Moonlight [5/5], The Act of Killing [5/5], Adaptation [5/5], Ran [5/5] letterboxd
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Feb 7, 2018 00:46
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FancyMike posted:Yi Yi - I've realized Edward Yang is the best, and this is his most well-known. I think it is also the only Chinese-language film in the Criterion Collection (a depressingly short list) I haven't seen Next one for you. Johnny Dangerously - Amy Heckerling directed this one and it felt very much like a Mel Brooks direction. It's ninety minutes filled with mostly amusement and plenty of gags and spoofs concerning gangsters. So there are naturally many chuckles to be found. There's a story about brothers at odds (one a gangster and one a law-abider) as well but the whole film is so silly that it takes a backseat. I liked the one villain who swears with a dialect so everything comes out strangely e.g. "icehole", "bastage" etc. Also watched: Runaway Train - A pleasant surprise of a film. Jon Voight channels the rough and hardscrabble criminal very well. A guy so crazy that he's welded into a jail cell. So many films of today really miss this. Criminals in a lot of 1990s-2010s films look like serene GQ models living glamorous lives rather than the grotesque and violent people that no one wants to encounter. Films of the 1970s and 1980s portrayed them with ease. 1973s Scarecrow comes to mind. The kind of people that'll stab you in the back for looking at them the wrong way. This GREAT scene totally captures that: https://youtu.be/VTdjoA8HeAM?t=1m12s Eric Roberts plays the slow sidekick and their pairing reminds me of the relationship found in Of Mice and Men. I also admired the simple and realistic prison escape scene. Rather than being some elaborate and convoluted mess it was straightforward and ordinary i.e. Hide in a laundry basket and distract the guard with a new Playboy magazine. These guys escape through a sewer slathered in grease (for heat I assume) and then we get to the real action. They hop aboard a four unit train and the conductor immediately has a heart attack. These two criminals are then on an exciting ride as they try in vain to stop this crazy train in a variety of ways. Another aspect is that of the determined Warden named Ranken who chases these criminals all over the place. I experienced a tinge of sadness at the insane conclusion. Manny (Jon Voight) climbs on top of the train and stares death in the face as we're given Richard III quotations. Spoilers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7akUtLs9teQ PS Look for very early appearances of Tiny Lister and Danny Trejo. James Bond versus Godzilla (27/64 completed): Godzilla vs. Gigan - Godzilla XII. Kind of interested to see this one as I've heard very little about it. Only twenty or so to go. 7/27/17 Esquire's 75 Movies Every Man Should See (70/74 completed): #5 Save the Tiger - Going into this one blind. 1/17/18 #17 Lone Star (1996) - I've heard it's an underwatched one. 12/1/17 #51 The Big Kahuna - Something about salesmen. 12/19/17 #66 Run Silent, Run Deep - Supposedly a premier submarine film. 10/20/17 Premiere’s 25 Most Dangerous Movies (19/25 completed): #3 Romper Stomper - I remember this being a favorite of people many years back. 2/3/18 #4 Natural Born Killers - I remember when this came out it was making people physically ill. 1/23/18 #7 Freaks - Never felt like watching this one. 2/3/18 new #20 Gimme Shelter - A decent track. 2/8/18 new #24 Boys Don't Cry - Hilary Swank won an Oscar for this. 2/8/18
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Feb 9, 2018 06:24
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Zogo keep working that Bond vs Godzilla list wih Godzilla vs Gigan. Watched Withnail & I, and it was alright. It's an unpleasant comedy, done entirely on purpose, and it doesn't take very long to show how grimy and nasty it's going to get. The people in are a mess, the apartments a mess, they foul and at points disgusting and mean. it's two main characters, a pair of out of work actor junkies and drunks, about to burn out hard, escaping into the English country side, one of them, '& I', trying to get a grip on himself, while Withnail is mostly just tagging along. Richard E. Grant's Withnail is the more memorable performance, but I found Richard Griffiths turn as Uncle Monty the more fun character and acting of the film. Paul McGann as '& I' is whatever. When the film is getting strange it's really great, but unfortunaly it's not always strange, and it's not always consistently witty to get past all the glum and nastiness of the two main characters. The ending just doesn't feel quite earned(though Grants monologue is ace), and it reminded me how much better a rookie Fellini did it on I Vitteloni. SHAME Part III The Director's Cut: Rio Bravo John Wayne nooooooooo Carol Todd Haynes is cool, Blanchett is cool The Crime of Monsieur Lange Renoir Pickpocket More French stuff Paisan Keeping my voyage through Italy with another Scorsese favourite The Young Girls of Rochefort A musical (i think) Tristana The other Bunuel and Deneuve collaboration Manhunter Missing out this one from the Hannibal Lecter canon Sullivan's Travels Was quite cold on The Lady Eve so hoping this is better Cairo Station Going completely blind on this Have watched so far 75 movies: Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Fallen Angels, The Shop Around the Corner, La Strada, Little Dieter Needs to Fly, Rescue Dawn, All About My Mother, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, The Long Goodbye, Vampyr, Mon Oncle, The Exterminating Angel, Jules et Jim, Sorcerer, The Darjeeling Limited, Close-up, Arsenic and Old Lace, The Host, Zelig, Koyaanisqatsi, Young Mr. Lincoln, The Last Picture Show, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, The Killer, Anatomy of a Murder, The Trouble with Harry, Don't Look Now, L'Atalante, Cache, The Leopard, Steamboat Bill, Jr., Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Dancer in the Dark, How Green Was My Valley, Vivre sa Vie, Harvey, The Earrings of Madame de..., The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, Tokyo Drifter, The Player, Intolerable Cruelty, The Insider, Late Spring, Munich, Juliet of the Spirits, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, La Chienne, Le Cercle Rouge, The Lady Eve, Primer, Roma città aperta, Black Narcissus, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, Simon of the Desert, A Foreign Affair, Branded to Kill, In Bruges, Black Swan, The White Diamond, The Sting, Romeo + Juliet, Bronson, The Magician, 2046, Witness for Prosecution, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, I Vitelloni, Sonatine, Ivan's Childhood, Week End, Ninotchka, Gone Girl, Inside Llewyn Davis, Under the Skin, The Thin Blue Line, Withnail & I
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Feb 11, 2018 00:55
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Electronico6 posted:Manhunter Missing out this one from the Hannibal Lecter canon Maybe the best of Mann's career, enjoy. I watched Bottle Rocket, so that completes the Wes Anderson filmography for me, at least until he makes another one. Bottle Rocket was basically what I expected it to be, which I suppose is why it's taken me this long to watch it. I love the fully formed Wes Anderson of recent years, Moonrise Kingdom and The Grand Budapest Hotel are two of my all time favorite films. So for a debut, Bottle Rocket is certainly impressive but at the same time it's not as meticulously crafted as what would come later. It also has Owen Wilson playing like an extra strength version of that Owen Wilson persona, which for me became a bit grating during certain scenes. I imagine that his style felt a lot more fresh at the time, before everyone had seen him do this schtick in a hundred different movies. But overall the cast of characters is good, and kept me interested to see how things would turn out for them. So even from the beginning Anderson's films always had a lot of heart, which is nice to see. Current Shameful list with a new entry: Little Big Man: I love Westerns, not so big a fan of Dustin Hoffman though, for whatever reason. From what I understand this is a solid Western though so I need to check it out. Fantasia: Definitely have seen most of this in bits and pieces as a kid, but never have actually sat down and watched it from start to finish. Serpico: One of those movies where I know the end so it always held me back from watching it. Which is dumb. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: The story doesn't really interest me, which is why I've not seen it yet. But I love almost everything else Fincher's done so I should check it out. The Illusionist: Not the Edward Norton film. The animated film by the same guy that made The Triplets of Bellville, which completely blew me away. Chappie: I got kinda sick of Blomkamp but I should probably still check this one out at some point How to Steal A Million: Peter O'toole, so that's all I really need to know. The Rainmaker: I've seen the Godfather films, Apocalypse Now, and Dracula. Apparently Coppola made a few other good movies. Basebf555 fucked around with this message at 15:23 on Feb 12, 2018 |
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Feb 12, 2018 15:20
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| # ? May 16, 2024 23:41 |
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Basebf555 for giving me the 80's of movies, I give you the most 70's movie, watch Serpico. Even with William Peterson being a total bore, Manhunter is really good. You really need to be a Brett Ratner level of hack to sink Red Dragon to begin with, but with the more recent incredible adaptation by Fuller I did wonder if this version would still hold interest. Which of course it does. Michael Mann's expressive and pop aesthetics manages to make this adaptation and it's place in the Hannibal cinematic universe( ) feel distinct and unique compared Demme's, Scott's, and Fuller's version. Brian Cox's 5 minute snarling and venomous Hannibal, works wonderfully here as this psychopath who can't quite let go that he got caught by the most boring and worst dressed man ever. Hopkins and Mikkelsen are far better, but then again they had a lot more time, specially Mads. This really ends up being Noonan's show as Dollarhyde, rather than Cox, and Noonan anchors the second half of the film into something special, and even manages to make that scene with Strong as I Am blaring out not fall into complete parody.Another thing that I did notice, is the detail and preoccupation with the mechanics and motions of solving such a crime. There's a lot of shots of people conducting forensic, of machines and equipment, of people in a room together piecing a general idea of why the Tooth Fairy did this, and who he is, though a lot of it is lifted from Harris novel, it really made me aware of how much Bruckheimer and co. use Manhunter as a blueprint for C.S.I., and it's not just William Petersen. Like the guy putting up Dollarhyde's message to Hannibal through some gizmo and keep changing lens to get the right effect, is the exact stuff you would see on the early seasons of CSI, before all the weird poo poo Miami would bring in. Also Dennis Farina yelling "SEND IT THROUGH THE DATA FAX!" is just unintentional obsolete tech comedy gold. SHAME Part III The Director's Cut: Rio Bravo John Wayne nooooooooo Carol Todd Haynes is cool, Blanchett is cool The Crime of Monsieur Lange Renoir Pickpocket More French stuff Paisan Keeping my voyage through Italy with another Scorsese favourite The Young Girls of Rochefort A musical (i think) Tristana The other Bunuel and Deneuve collaboration Sullivan's Travels Was quite cold on The Lady Eve so hoping this is better Cairo Station Going completely blind on this Wag the Dog So I can understand all those Trump wagging dog headlines Have watched so far 76 movies: Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Fallen Angels, The Shop Around the Corner, La Strada, Little Dieter Needs to Fly, Rescue Dawn, All About My Mother, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, The Long Goodbye, Vampyr, Mon Oncle, The Exterminating Angel, Jules et Jim, Sorcerer, The Darjeeling Limited, Close-up, Arsenic and Old Lace, The Host, Zelig, Koyaanisqatsi, Young Mr. Lincoln, The Last Picture Show, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, The Killer, Anatomy of a Murder, The Trouble with Harry, Don't Look Now, L'Atalante, Cache, The Leopard, Steamboat Bill, Jr., Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Dancer in the Dark, How Green Was My Valley, Vivre sa Vie, Harvey, The Earrings of Madame de..., The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, Tokyo Drifter, The Player, Intolerable Cruelty, The Insider, Late Spring, Munich, Juliet of the Spirits, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, La Chienne, Le Cercle Rouge, The Lady Eve, Primer, Roma città aperta, Black Narcissus, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, Simon of the Desert, A Foreign Affair, Branded to Kill, In Bruges, Black Swan, The White Diamond, The Sting, Romeo + Juliet, Bronson, The Magician, 2046, Witness for Prosecution, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, I Vitelloni, Sonatine, Ivan's Childhood, Week End, Ninotchka, Gone Girl, Inside Llewyn Davis, Under the Skin, The Thin Blue Line, Withnail & I, Manhunter
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Feb 14, 2018 12:41
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